Death… and me

The commander held hostage by Chu Yang remained unconscious, oblivious to the events transpiring around him.

Chu Yang did not intend to kill him.

He was not afraid of killing people; it was a task which he did not find particularly difficult. Rather, he was more concerned about getting out of his current predicament and avoiding any possible danger, as well as confirming his suspicions about where his enemies were from!

Chu Yang guessed that they were probably from Iron Cloud! More specifically, they were likely Prince Tie Bu Tian's Dead Warriors.

They were the only ones who wanted to prevent Du Shi Qing from reaching Iron Cloud! That was because if Du Shi Qing miraculously restored Tie Shi Cheng's health, the Iron Cloud country would be trapped by the perilous situation of having two kings.

No matter how close the two were, those under them would not accept such a situation. As of now, Tie Bu Tian was seen as the spiritual pillar, savior, and only hope of Iron Cloud Nation.

As such, Tie Shi Cheng's recovery would greatly affect Tie Bu Tian's status. More importantly, his recovery would demoralise the military since no army would be able to split their loyalty between two kings!

And if the Iron Cloud challenged Diwu Qing Rou in such a weakened state, they were bound to lose!

If they were indeed from the Iron Cloud as Chu Yang suspected, then all the more he could not kill them! Iron Cloud was already severely weakened compared to the Great Zhao and could not spare even a little of their already weak military.

Furthermore, the Dead Warriors were considered the military's trump card. If they fell at Chu Yang's hands, a major part of the Iron Cloud's military would descend into chaos. While Chu Yang could not predict how badly this would affect the Iron Cloud, there was no doubt that there would be some sort of effect on the war.

Chu Yang wanted to go against fate and ensure that Tie Bu Tian defeated Diwu Qing Rou, so he had to keep the Dead Warriors alive!

Chu Yang flew out of the thick forest like a meteor and behind him, an army of men dressed in black pursued relentlessly! Chu Yang, however, was not concerned in the slightest, as he continued leaping to and from the two opposing sides. With his body suspended in the air, Chu Yang shouted.

"If you want to see your commander alive, stop right now!"

As he finished his sentence, Chu Yang came crashing to the ground. He wobbled unsteadily before falling onto the ground with his hostage. Afterward, he struggled to regain his footing but was unable to, slipping once more to the ground. By this point, his face was brightly flushed and he panted heavily. He coughed fitfully and spat out blood onto the ground.

From the beginning of his counterattack, Chu Yang had barely breathed. As he had executed multiple extremely tiring moves without pause, his body naturally suffered serious internal damage. And as he paused to regain his strength, his body completely collapsed.

However, he did not forget to hold his cold, hard sword to his hostage's neck.

Even as he held up his sword against his hostage's neck, Chu Yang remained kneeling, breathless and dishevelled. However, he managed to maintain his cold and calculating gaze. Looking into Chu Yang's cool and ruthless gaze, none of the soldiers dared to make any movement. They knew that if they tried to defy Chu Yang, he would kill their commander without hesitation!

The current situation was extremely perilous. Manager Gao, under siege by six people, was occupied and unable to save Du Shi Qing. Although the six people attacking Manager Gao realised that they would be unable to defeat him, they charged at him with utter abandonment of their lives, desperate to hold him back.

They were wounded, but determined to stall him or die trying.

The other two soldiers had already arrived at the carriage. And of the eight guards that were with the group, four were already defeated. The two soldiers would not need much time to destroy the carriage and expose Du Shi Qing, who was inside.

However, suddenly, the situation reversed. Everyone was violently clashing with one another when they looked at Chu Yang in utter surprise, paralysed and speechless.

Chu Yang looked like he was on his last legs. His tattered clothes and the fresh blood dripping from his mouth only added to that impression.

If Chu Yang had not been holding their commander hostage, the soldiers would have rushed to assassinate him without hesitation. However, seeing as Chu Yang was holding a sword to their commander's neck, they knew that they could not take Chu Yang lightly.

Even though he was panting vigorously, Chu Yang held his sword steady, unmoving. His eyes remained alert, taking in all movements in his vicinity.

"Let him go immediately!"

The masked leader immediately realised that Chu Yang had captured their commander and could not help but feel seething rage! At this point, he even felt that the situation was somewhat surreal.

How did Chu Yang capture the general? Wasn't the general supposed to be under extreme protection?

One hundred Dead Warriors had guarded the general, including eight Martial Masters and twenty Martial Warriors, with the rest being Martial Pupils of a high grade.

Not to mention the additional fifty archers as well as the siege crossbow!

This mighty force of Dead Warriors had always been victorious. And this time, plan was supposedly as easy as smashing an insect with a mountain. That divine doctor should have long fallen into their hands.

How did the general instead get captured by the enemy?

How had Chu Yang gotten to the general? The thick darkness and perilous terrain should have prevented him from moving around freely. Not to mention, the general was placed at the centre of the entire formation, under the protection of many soldiers. How did exactly did Chu Yang manage to get him?

"Release him?" Still slightly breathless, Chu Yang asked mockingly. "If you were me, would you release him?"

"What a joke! You wanna use a mere soldier to threaten us?" The leader was anxious, but his calm voice revealed none of his anxiety.

"A mere soldier, huh?" Chu Yang laughed. "So he's just a mere soldier, then?"

As he finished speaking, Chu Yang raised his sword suddenly, and in a single swift movement, sliced the general's shoulder. Fresh blood spilled everywhere.

"You…!"

The masked soldiers' eyes widened in shock, some even stepping forward involuntarily, wishing to free their general.

"Why did you do that?!" The masked person asked, trying to suppress his anger.

With his blade still in his hand, Chu Yang glanced at him and said in mock sadness, "You said that he was just a mere soldier, and I was so exasperated that I only managed to capture this mere soldier that my sword slipped from my grasp. Well, in any case, you should ignore this mere soldier and continue your mission. Haha, indeed, we both should; you kill Du Shi Qing, and I'll kill this mere soldier."

Chu Yang raised his sword again and plunged it into the general's arm. His gaze was full of cynical mockery. Blood continued to spill onto the floor.

"Wait!" The masked leader finally decided to give in and stepped forward. "What do you want?"

"Nothing much. Just for your goons to leave and let us go!" Chu Yang's breathing had stabilised. He slowly stood up, pulling the other arm of the general. "When I figure that we're are safe, I'll let this 'mere soldier' go." He said the words mere soldier with deliberate sarcasm, lengthening every syllabus to display his mockery.

"You… Remove the sword and then we'll talk!" The masked person was clearly both anxious and angry, "How can you torture someone like that and still call yourself a hero!"

"Hero? Well, I'm not a hero." Chu Yang slowly removed the sword from the general's arm and said coldly, "I only wish to arrive at Iron Cloud Citadel safe and sound!"

"I get it!" The masked leader said. "But how will I know whether you will keep your side of the promise?"

Chu Yang said simply, "I haven't removed his mask, even until now. Isn't this enough sincerity?"

The masked man said, slightly amazed at Chu Yang's reply, "Yes, that's more than enough."

Not removing his enemy's mask meant that the opponent did not want to escalate the situation, giving both sides a way to defuse the situation and come to a compromise. If Chu Yang had taken the general's mask off and revealed his identity the only course of action for the masked soldiers would be to kill everyone and maintain their secrecy. Naturally, this would probably have meant that the general would have lost his life. Furthermore, if Fire Saber Great Master, Gao Wei Cheng, wanted to escape then none of the masked soldiers could have stopped him.

Du Shi Qing had been invited to Iron Cloud by its prince, Tie Bu Tian. Furthermore, he went with permission from Great Zhao. If Gao Wei Cheng escaped and told others of this, then the situation would immediately intensify. This was an extremely sensitive issue for the two countries. If discovered, the two leaders would be branded as traitors of Iron Cloud.

The consequences would be disastrous, to say the least.